Late Traditions
by Kei Luna Shoryu
Summary: When Reno discovers he missed his partner's birthday, he decides to make it up to him. The question was how. Reno/Rude friendship Rated: T for Reno's excessive vocabulary.


Hey. KLS here. Yeah, I know NONE of you know me, but I felt like a general 'hi' was in order anyway.

**Summary:** When Reno discovers he missed his partner's birthday, he decides to make it up to him. Setting out on a self-imposed mission, there is no room for failure.

**Warnings: **Well... Reno. Yeah, just Reno. Mainly because I went into a bit of a 'Cid-mode' at one point, and I didn't feel like it was a good idea to change it, hence the rating: T. I still wonder if I should raise it, but M seems a bit severe, yeah?

**Dedication: **Yeah, this again, goes to TheDoublemintTwins... This was originally for them, but their birthday passed a good... five-six months ago. . Gomen! ('Cept not really....)

**Disclaimer: **If I owned this... no one would play it.. Have heard of it... . Pretty much everything that makes this game awesome, would be non-existent. So yeah... no, it's not mine. I'm just trying to make up for lost times, right?

**Anything Important?: **I know it's going to be a problem so I'm going to make myself clear and say it here, I realize Reno says 'Rookie' when he's referring to Rude, and quite frankly, I refuse to believe Rude was there longer. It just doesn't seem right in my mind, there's no way Reno would get away with what he does if Rude came first. Not quite sure how that works out but hey, don't judge, I'm poor! So nyah... and live with it. The story itself isn't that bad. Now then... enjoy? ....Please?

**Words: **1,218

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Reno smiled as he checked off the last item on his checklist. It was finally all here, he had the bowl, the mixer, the flour, the eggs, the milk, sugar, and vegetable oil. The sugar had been a pain in the ass to get. Tseng pretty much outlawed the substance after the White Crystal War.

"Damn rookie better be grateful." He muttered. Cissnei had nearly burned his ass when she'd seen him, though he got a weird feeling she knew what he was doing. Looking over the items again he sighed and shrugged off his suit jacket. It was time to get to work.. Reno peered apprehensively at the carton of eggs, and pulled it open. He counted six eggs, one of which was cracked. He withdrew the crack one and deposited it in the trash, before breaking two more eggs into a bowl. He whisked the eggs, before pausing to regard the bowl critically.

"It doesn't look like there's enough…" He muttered. He glanced at the remaining three eggs and removed one, then the other two. He cracked these in the bowl as well, and repeated the whisking process. Satisfied, he turned to the next ingredient: milk. The recipe said one cup… Reno walked off to find a cup, which he found sitting on Tseng's desk, still filled with coffee. He grabbed it and emptied its contents into a nearby potted plant, before returning to his bowl. The red head emptied one cup of milk into the bowl to accompany the eggs. It concerned him that the cup he had used was not, in fact, a cup, but a mug. Still, this concern wasn't enough to stop him from proceeding.

Tseng sighed as he entered the Turk's office. He looked around the empty room unsurprised. Cissnei and Rude wouldn't be here for another couple of hours and Reno wouldn't show up until half the day had passed. Then he would waste another hour or so complaining about paperwork. He walked towards the kitchen that had been added after the other employees had a few too many run-ins with Veld.

Tseng's eyes widened as the scent of something burning reached his nose, followed by loud cursing and the sound of something slamming against something else.

"Shiva fucking-god-damn chocobo-shit son-of-a-bitch, Dammit!" Tseng hesitated. "Damn it all to hell." That sounded suspiciously like… "Why me you bastard?" there was a loud crash, followed by low, guttural mumbling. Narrowing his eyes, Tseng slowly opened the door, just enough to see inside. His eyes widened in shock at the uncharacteristic sight before him.

"…killed I don't know how many bastards, watched after the brat, and I can't even make a cake of all damn things. Shiva, why the hell is this so hard?" Reno sat in a heap on the floor, his jacket beside him looking just as rumpled as he. Tseng's eyes traveled around the room before resting curiously on a misshapen charcoal lump. He eyed a few of the items set on the counter. Eggs, milk, flour, sugar… Tseng paused; he had made sure that sugar wasn't allowed in the Turk's area. It had been banished from Soldier as well. What the hell had Reno been doing? He took a step into the room and was nearly chocked to death as someone dragged him backwards by his collar. He turned his head slightly, to see the orange haired female Turk pulling him towards his office.

Tseng shrugged off her hand and followed her inside.

"Cissnei, what—"

"I'm sorry sir, but I could not allow you to go in there right now. Reno's been here since yesterday afternoon and what he's doing is very important." Tseng narrowed his eyes suspiciously before thinking back to the sceme in the kitchen. That was when he noticed the box in Cissnei's hands. He motioned toward it. The woman looked down and smiled sheepishly, turning it around so that Tseng could see it.

"I though he might need a hand, so I got him this." Tseng frowned at the box of cake mix, before waving her away.

"Just get me some coffee while you're at it…."

Reno sat defeated in the kitchen. He didn't have enough time to go out, buy more eggs, come back, and finish before Rude came by, and he'd probably be damned for life if Tseng saw him. Intentions aside, Tseng had been clear about the 'No Sugar" rule. That was why he'd come when he did—so late at night---so that he could clean up before Tseng got here. Now it was all over, everything had been for naught. Reno felt a hard knot settle in his stomach. So much for that, he thought. Can't help the guy out, can't even complete a small nice gesture.

"You really made a mess around here." Cissnei muttered. Reno's limp hands tightened into fists, and he quickly got to his feet.

"Yeah? Well, if you have a problem with it, you can clean it, yo." He snapped, making a move for the door. The other Turk stepped in front.

"Hold on, I only came by to make Tseng some coffee and give you a present." She handed him the box. "Just follow the directions on the back…_ word for word_." Cissnei glanced at the counter, which was covered in flour and other spills, and pointed to the coffee mug.

"And Reno… I need that, so… there're measuring cups in the drawer." The other nodded enthusiastically as Cissnei backed out of the kitchen, deciding it was safer to wait on Tseng's coffee for now.

Reno tapped his foot impatiently as he crossed his arms. He'd finally finished the first part of his mission. The dishes were clean and set away, the ingredients off the counter, and the sugar had been safely removed from his possession. That part was dangerous, as Reno had run into Tseng on the way there, but Cissnei saved the day by distracting him while Reno dashed into some rookie's office—luckily empty—and he'd quickly stashed the sugar in the back of their desk drawer: it was his problem now.

"Finally!" Rude froze in the doorway as he caught sight of his partner. He glanced at the clock, it was at least four hours before Reno even thought about waking up.

"Reno what—" Rude didn't get the chance to say anything more, as he was roughly dragged towards the kitchen. The bald man froze as he took in the picture before him. A cake sat on the counter—a badly frosted and lopsided cake—but a cake none the less.

"You made me a cake?"

"You better be grateful too, I almost died three times making that."

"Three?"

"You don't believe me? I swear to god the cake and that damn stove have formed an alliance against me…"

"My birthday was over three months ago," Rude stated bluntly, figuring he should tell the red head now, before his head got too big. Reno frowned.

"I know….I mean… I didn't know then, but I found out like, a week ago, and I felt bad so…" he glanced at the cake and gave a cheeky grin. "Ta-da!"

"…Thanks partner."

"No problem, yo. It's tradition." Rude blinked behind his shades. He figured he could live with a tradition like this.


End file.
